This is a good story, and it all began on Gabriola in May 2006, with a series of fundraising events. The funds raised were to allow South American indigenous people who could not afford it, to participate in the Healing Our Spirit Worldwide (HOSW) gathering in Edmonton in September 2006. (All about HOSW at www.HOSW.com)

Thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of Gabriolan volunteers, sponsors and participants, the fundraising film night at the Community Hall, the community feast at Dragon’s Keep and the two concerts at the Haven (featuring Inuit throat singers, First Nations and Gabriolan musicians and singers) were a great success.

With the money raised, five participants from remote communities in Ecuador, Mexico and Peru were able to attend the 4000-strong gathering of indigenous people from all over the world in Edmonton that September. An amazing experience for them, as you can imagine.

But this story does not stop there. We are now in 2010, and thanks to the relationship we were able to maintain with the Peruvian man sponsored with the Gabriola funds, 54 Awajun and Wampis communities in his native region of the Peruvian Amazon are involved in an ancestral school project with Canadian International Development Agency funding. A case of money going a long way…

Awajun and Wampis people have been fiercely protective of their territory and traditional way of life. However, they are very aware of the inevitable pressures that are bound to influence and transform their lives and natural environment. They are experiencing some of these pressures right now.

The years of respectful collaboration and the immense success of the school have led two communities of the region to approach us - Indigenous Women Without Borders Inc. (IWWB) - in order to develop eco-cultural expeditions as a community economic development project. We were able to discuss how they wanted to approach this venture and they have created a tourism committee joined to a larger regional community association. They signed an agreement with us to organise pilot small-group expeditions to this protected territory.

The objective of this project is to create understanding between different cultures or different people from different lives, but it does require extreme sensitivity, both in cultural and environmental terms. It will be a first opportunity for the people in the communities visited to join the conversation, share knowledge and build friendship. Awajun and Wampis cultural protocols and traditions need to be respected. IWWB and our partners at community level are also determined to continue developing the guidelines that will help protect their eco-system.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for anyone to experience the discovery of another truly traditional culture and a pristine natural environment. It is also a unique chance to become friends rather than just being tourists and to see how a grass-root organisation travels, lives and works on the ground.

The first expedition is also extraordinary for another reason: all those who are part of the expedition have a special invitation to attend the ceremonies and celebrations that are organised for the first cohort of graduates from the Ancestral school. This will be really awesome.

The cost of the trip, inclusive of the return airfare Vancouver-Lima is $5,500. The date of travel: Vancouver, March 27 – Return April 11. There is a possibility to stay longer at modest extra cost to visit Machu Picchu or Nazca Valley. If you are interested and/or wish to come to an information session/presentation, please e-mail me at: genouswomenwithoutborders@gmail.com, or phone 250-247-8693.